Originally published in 1891 when Wilde was at the height of his
form, these brilliant essays on art, literature, criticism, and
society display the flamboyant poseur's famous wit and wide
learning. A leading spokesman for the English Aesthetic movement,
Wilde promoted "art for art's sake" against critics who argued that
art must serve a moral purpose. On every page of this collection
the gifted literary stylist admirably demonstrates not only that
the characteristics of art are "distinction, charm, beauty, and
imaginative power," but also that criticism itself can be raised to
an art form possessing these very qualities.
In the opening essay, Wilde laments the "decay of Lying as an art,
a science, and a social pleasure." He takes to task modern literary
realists like Henry James and Emile Zola for their "monstrous
worship of facts" and stifling of the imagination. What makes art
wonderful, he says, is that it is "absolutely indifferent to fact,
art] invents, imagines, dreams, and keeps between herself and
reality the impenetrable barrier of beautiful style, of decorative
or ideal treatment."
The next essay, "Pen, Pencil, and Poison," is a fascinating
literary appreciation of the life of Thomas Griffiths Wainewright,
a talented painter, art critic, antiquarian, friend of Charles
Lamb, and -- murderer.
The heart of the collection is the long two-part essay titled "The
Critic as Artist." In one memorable passage after another, Wilde
goes to great lengths to show that the critic is every bit as much
an artist as the artist himself, in some cases more so. A good
critic is like a virtuoso interpreter: "When Rubinstein plays ...
he gives us not merely Beethoven, but also himself, and so gives us
Beethoven absolutely...made vivid and wonderful to us by a new and
intense personality. When a great actor plays Shakespeare we have
the same experience."
Finally, in "The Truth of Masks," Wilde returns to the theme of art
as artifice and creative deception. This essay focuses on the use
of masks, disguises, and costume in Shakespeare.
For newcomers to Wilde and those who already know his famous plays
and fiction, this superb collection of his criticism offers many
delights.
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